Sharing of airline data between EU states approved

The European Parliament has given final approval to an exchange of airline passenger data between security forces in the EU, ending a standoff between privacy advocates and those who consider the move crucial to fighting terrorism.

The law on retaining and sharing passenger name records had been stalled for years because of opposition within the European Parliament to the blanket collection of such data.

Islamist militant attacks in Paris last year and in Brussels last month spurred France and other governments to call for the swift adoption of passenger name records laws to improve security against terrorism.

French interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve welcomed the deal as a “precious tool” to strengthen European security by making it easier to detect the movements of suspected Islamic militants.

Some left-wing groups opposed the measure, arguing it infringed people’s privacy and that security forces should share more existing information instead.

“There is no proof that the mass collection and storage of air passenger data helps in combating terrorism,” said Jan Albrecht, a member of parliament from the Greens group. Yesterday’s vote paves the way for the final adoption of the law by EU member states.

“Passenger name records is not a silver bullet but countries that have national Passenger Name Records systems have shown time and again that it is highly effective,” Timothy Kirkhope, a European parliamentarian who steered the legislation to adoption, said after the vote.

Passenger name records includes name, travel dates, itinerary, ticket details, contact details, travel agent, means of payment, seat number and baggage information.

Airlines operating flights between the EU and third countries as well as intra-EU flights will transfer the data to national security services who could then share it with their European counterparts.

The data will be retained for five years.